This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
On Jan. 12th 2022 my wife and I were riding in our 2019 Volks Wagon Atlas in route to a doctors appointment and was slowing for a red light when a warning sounded the drivers side back door window lowered, multiple warning light came on and the most dangerous part was the electric e brake activated causing the vehicle to come to an immediate stop. We were lucky there wasn't any traffic behind us. The vehicle was taken to the Volks Wagon of Reading Pennsylvania, and the service tech stated the vehicle was not safe to drive, and that that they have multiple vehicles with the same problem. We were further informed that the drivers door wiring harness failed and the part is backed ordered. I have been to the volks wagon atlas message board and found this problem is through out the United States if not world wide. Most of the complaints are how scared everyone was when the car stopped in traffic without warning. Volks Wagon is aware of this problem but have not taken the initiative to inform Atlas owners that this problem exist.
9/2019Just purchased and driving home from dealership, approximately 4 miles driven, stopped at traffic light. Light turned green. Car started going forward and then engine turned off completely. Sudden stop. Car was in drive, no warning lights, just the auto wasn-??t operating. Stuck in traffic. Moved shift lever to Park tried restarting. Car would not start. After numerous attempts car started. Immediately drove back to dealership. Told no codes displayed. Nothing to worry about. Salesman said they tightened battery cables. 1/2020Stopped in stop/go traffic on interstate. Auto on/off disengaged. While starting to move forward car stopped completely and parking brake engaged stopping the car suddenly. Car turned off. All lights on dash lit, then went off. Took numerous attempts to restart. Electrical smell present 2/2020Auto stop was was turned off. Stopped at elevated train crossing by lowered gates and passing train. Foot on brake whole time. After train passed accelerated but car was not running. Car actually started rolling backwards when foot taken off brake.No dash lights or warning of any kind. Had to put car into park. This time it re-started without any hesitation. Acrid electrical smell was noticed. Brought to dealer and no codes. 7/2020Backing automobile out of garage. About 10 feet into backing procedure car turned off and parking brake engaged. Had to shift back to park, turn off parking brake. Restart car. Took a few attempts to restart. 3/2021Was stopped at same elevated train crossing as prior event. Same issue. 4 more events january 2022. Dealer says not problem found
The Panoramic sunroof continues to leak water. This is a safety risk by water obstructing the driver's vision. Also, the water mixing with electrical wires in the A frame, driver-side electronics, and leaking on and through the center dash area is a major concern. The vehicle has been serviced twice within the same month and has not been fixed.
While driving vehicle with my baby with me in heavy traffic area engine completely died when I came to a red light. Cars expected me to proceed on green light. No steering, no brakes, rear sensors went off and warning said Low 12V Battery. Tried to restart it to no avail. Engine would just click. 3 men had to put their hazards on and started pushing the VW Atlas to the nearest parking lot a ways off endangering the lives of these 3 men their vehicles and my baby and my own life. Took vehicle to get Battery and alternator tested, but all was -??Perfectly fine-??. I will not wait for a fatality in my family to happen. VW should recall or do something day IMMEDIATELY.
The rear window rolls down by itself with nobody touching any of the buttons. The light pops up on the dash and says faulty electrical. The vehicle will suddenly stop in the middle of driving. The emergency break applies. The emergency brake light comes on. Check engine light illuminates. Unable to safely drive as the vehicle just stops without warning. Vehicle in motion on the street and on the highway occurred several times
- Ellenwood, GA, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
The rear window rolls down by itself with nobody touching any of the buttons. The light pops up on the dash and says faulty electrical. The vehicle was in motion, in the city. The vehicle will suddenly attempt to stop in the middle of a drive/middle of the road. Almost as if the emergency break has been pulled, only nobody has touched it. The emergency brake light does come on. Again, in motion, on the highway (has happened a few times). Now, the remote start does not work.
VW performed an emissions recall software update on this vehicle approximately 6 months ago. Since this software update was performed the adaptive cruise control does not work after using the vehicles oem remote start. The adaptive cruise control works when not using remote start however. They have so far refused to offer a fix.
The vehicle shuts down while driving. It has happen 3 times. Auto start/stop is disengaged each time. One incident (6/19/20) while driving 50mph, had to coast into a parking lot & restart the engine. Another (8/19/20) when slowing down to go into our driveway. Took the car to the dealer after each of these incidents. They could not diagnose the issue. Dealer has contacted VW tech & engineering. We have started file with VW customer care. We were instructed by VW that the next time it happens, leave the car where it stops & to call customer care for a tow. We also have had an issue with one key not being recognized by the car on several occasions. Today, the instrument display & the radio shut down while idling at cvs (auto start/stop was off).
The auto braking system activats on its own while in motion. On multiple occassions the car has suddenly braked and ive come to a complete stop in the middle of the road. No cars, debris, hazards, or anything were in front of me that should have activated the automatic collision prevention system. It is so sudden that it left my neck and shoulders (seat belt area) very sore. The automatic collision prevention system is supposed to be a safety feature but nearly caused a collision. I have taken it to the dealer multiple times for the problem but everytime they say there are no errrors reported on their computer and there is nothing they can do. This is a known problem among many VW owners and VW knows too but doesn't address it.
When going up or down a steep hill, and also 1 time pulling out of a parking lot my emergency brakes have engaged 5 times. No cars have been around (luckily) and I was not about to hit anything. My collision sensors also go off daily-the entire time I'm driving even while nothing is around. I can pull up to an empty intersection and they will do off. I have tried to change the sensitivity and this still happens. They are not consistent either- the same road can make it go off one day and not the next. But they are always going off while driving and I have to exit out of the screen
Car wouldn't start after being garage for two days. Nothing was left on in the car. The other thing I noticed was that the start stop function no longer works. When I first bought the car it worked all the time.
I have been having problems with the car slamming on brakes for no reason, no cars in front of us we were on the highway driving at about 70 mph. The acc system works sporadically. We were told that when they did the recall repair it deprogrammed the acc which they say there is no software update. My daughter was parking the car and the car shut off on the middle of the road and told her to manually restart the car. There is a grinding noise when accelerating the dealership said this was 'normal and related to the torque converter. The cruise control also works sporadically since the recall repair. The car stalling and slamming on brakes are both very serious safety concerns.
While driving 35mph, no one in either direction, flat street surface, braking system went on with the alert on dash and noise.it has happened 4 times where the cars braking system turns on, brakes while accelerating, and then it takes several seconds before you can move from the intersection, hoping not to have a collision from car that is behind.took to the dealers several times and they cannot verify. The engine light was on for several weeks.one dealer said they cannot see me for another 2 weeks. Called VW headquarters to get me in sooner. The triangle light with exclamation point was also on. The key light was on as well while my car was running, stating the keys were not in the car. When I went to accelerate, car turned off. Sunroof was leaking--have a video remote keys do not work all the time. Start up has issues, doors lock when I am close to the car for no reason, doors do not unlock from the inside until I turn on the car, the rear door does not open at times- have a video, if keys are in pocket, doors do not unlock easily(was told I have to hold the handle correctly or it will not open) the side alert system goes off all the time when nothing is there. Front windows would not go down -on receipt they stated they found windows were fine. Advisor told me that the button on the door was burned out, but they did not write that in the report. Steering issues where the car was moving right to left and very loose.
While driving a warning began to flash stating, "only exit vehicle in park position." The A/C will not blow hard and the heated seats no longer work. I am concerned about anything else electrical is not working. With equipped lane assist, I am concerned about its accuracy. The currently have acknowledged the same issue on the gti. Occurred when in motion on the highway.
Upon accelerating my 2019 VW Atlas down an empty street between 10 to 20 miles per hour the autonamous emergency brake sensor malfunctioned and the car suddenly came to a complete stop jolting us forward. It was so unexpected that my hands slipped off the steering wheel and landed on the dash board. The halt came with a very loud noise. As I explained to the dealership technician and VW corporate office regional case manager, there was no vehicle in front of me. There were no pedestrians, animals, obstacles, etc. On the roadway. The day was sunny and the grill emblem that houses the system sensor was unobstructed and clean. If there would have been a vehicle behind me I would have been rear ended. The dealership told me that "they could not duplicate the issue" and per corporate engineers the sensor is working per specifications and no fault codes were found with the sensor. Imagine receiving this explanation after that scary incident happens to you out of no where. Now I can't get back into the vehicle without thinking when it will happen next. Too have written a letter to the CEO of Volkswagen seeking a resolution to the problem. My thought is that it's a problem with the sensor's software code and Volkswagen doesn't have a solution. Please I ask that this issue be investigated and a recall be issued. The internet has info on other owners with same issue along with a class action lawsuit filed in California against VW for the same issue. Thank you.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Bernville, PA, USA